Employers Forbidden From Holding

1. Holding of employees’ passports by employers is against the UAE law.
2. In particular, this practice is expressly forbidden by, among other things, the U.A.E. Labor Law, No. 33 of 2021
3. And, specifically, Article 13, subsection 2, which states that “employers shall not seize official documents” of their employees.
4. Passports are an example of an “official document.”
5. As well as labor cards, employment contracts and other similar documents.
6. This is in addition to the U.A.E. Constitution, which also provides that the practice of holding passports is against the country’s laws.